"Our Judeo/Christian values"

[MikeWaters]

I'm taking this ethics class, and as part of the first reading, it talked about the philosophical background behind modern day research ethics. It basically postulated that ethics gained very little from religion.

So I bring this up in class, "in the United States we talk sometimes of our Judeo/Christian ethic, to what degree could it be argued that modern day ethics comes from that?"

Before the teacher could respond, one of the other classmates jumped in. She looks like she is getting close to 60 years old. She proceeded to tell me that Jews and Christians have very little to do with each other, and their beliefs are so distant, that I should not be lumping them together.

Okay, dude, whatever. I love these classes. A bunch of ignoramuses (myself included) spouting drivel to each other.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I'm taking this ethics class, and as part of the first reading, it talked about the philosophical background behind modern day research ethics. It basically postulated that ethics gained very little from religion.

So I bring this up in class, "in the United States we talk sometimes of our Judeo/Christian ethic, to what degree could it be argued that modern day ethics comes from that?"

Before the teacher could respond, one of the other classmates jumped in. She looks like she is getting close to 60 years old. She proceeded to tell me that Jews and Christians have very little to do with each other, and their beliefs are so distant, that I should not be lumping them together.

Okay, dude, whatever. I love these classes. A bunch of ignoramuses (myself included) spouting drivel to each other.

I think Harold Bloom came to the conclusion spouted to you by this woman in his latest book about the Old Testament God. He waxed surprisingly nasty about Christianity.

Tell them that our national ethos is mostly Greek-made. I mean, even the New Testament was written by Hellenized Jews. But that's not the primary reason.

[MikeWaters]

I asked if guys like Kant were more derivative of religious thought or Greek thought. The teacher said religion.

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I asked if guys like Kant were more derivative of religious thought or Greek thought. The teacher said religion.

That's a good question. But the answer was too simplistic. The whole undertaking or notion of philosphosing as a means to accessing truth is Greek in origin, and I submit religion can only claim the tradition or discipline because it was through the Catholic Church that Greek philosphy was preserved until it was revealed anew in the latter days. In contrast to philosophy is religious dogma which demands simply faith. Kant's work itself represented a departure from the dogma/faith paradigm. Of course, because of his environment and upbringing his primary preocupation was philosphising about the God he had been raised with, the Judeo-Christian god (to the extent they are the same thing).

In the Nineteenth Century the West was where Mormonism is today, trying to make sense of their received dogma in light of burgeoing science generally at odds with it. That is why there was such a flourising of philosphy at that time. But, again, the discipline of philosophy most emphatically came from the Greeks. Christianity was the conduit and the primary object of the philosphy. So the Greeks take the prize.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

That's a good question. But the answer was too simplistic. The whole undertaking or notion of philosphosing as a means to accessing truth is Greek in origin, and I submit religion can only claim the tradition or discipline because it was through the Catholic Church that Greeks philosphy was preserved until it was revealed anew in the latter days. In contrast to philosophy is religious dogma which demands simply faith. Kant's work itself represented a departure from the dogma/faith paradigm. Of course, because of his environment and upbringing his primary preocuppation was philosphising about the God he had been raised with, the Judeo-Christian god (to the extent they are the same thing).

In the Nineteenth Century the West was where Mormonism is today, trying to make sense of their received dogma in light of burgeoing science generally at odds with it. That is why there was such a flourising of philosphy at that time. But, again, the discipline of philosophy most emphatically came from the Greeks. Christianity was the conduit and the primary object of the philosphy. So the Greeks take the prize.

I would have stated Kant's method and process was Greek (with a heavy Germanic tedious influence for overthinking), but his subject matter may have originated from his Christian culture but migrated to mostly Greek philosophizing.

Reading Kant for the first time, especially in German, is a chore. You can't understand any of the other Germans unless you start with Kant, but it's a lot of work. Some philosophical works are relatively easy, unless one reads them in the original, such as Plato and Aristotle.

The Germans give you workout.

[SeattleUte]

They call Augustine the most influential philospher of all time because only through him did our civilization even know who Plato, Socrates and Aristotle were for about a thousand years. Augustine was raised by "Neoplatonists." The Greek element comes shining through all the periods of our history.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

They call Augustine the most influential philospher of all time because only through him did our civilization even know who Plato, Socrates and Aristotle were for about a thousand years. Augustine was raised by "Neoplatonists." The Greek element comes shining through all the periods of our history.

Augustine may have introduced the Greeks to us, or reconnected the modern era to the Greeks, but the modernists consistently re-evaluated the Greeks. That is the interesting aspect of the history of philosophy is one must view a very vast history to understand what most of them are talking of.

Only SEIQ and AA tend to have enough of an overview to grasp what they are saying. When I rambled through the stuff, I remember the profs stating, unless you have a Masters in Philosophy, you will never know philosophy.